Determination of Host Specificity of Pigeon Pox and Fowl Pox Viruses Isolated from a Field Outbreak

The aim of the study was to find out the host specificity of pigeon pox virus-1 (PPV-1) and fowl pox virus-2 (FPV-2) following cross infection with field strains from Bangladesh. The cross infection was investigated in five groups (n=5) of pigeons and seven groups of chickens (n=5) four weeks of age. Irrespective of route of inoculation each bird received either 0.1 mL of PPV-1 or FPV-2 having a virus concentration of 10 EID50 and 10 6.25 EID50 per 0.1 mL chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) suspension, respectively. A group of uninfected control birds were maintained in both cases. All pigeons infected either orally or intravenously did not respond to infection with FPV-2 and did not manifest any pox lesion. Experimentally infected chickens with PPV-1 by oral, intravenous (i.v.) or wing-web puncture (WWP) routes did not show any pox lesions except for a “take reaction” at the inoculation site. On the other hand, dispersed pox lesions were noticed in chickens exposed to FPV-2 by all three routes. The severity of infection in experimental birds was manifested with a descending magnitude after i.v., oral and WWP inoculation. It could be concluded that the field isolates of PPV-1 and FPV-2 manifested considerable host specificity to pigeons and chickens, respectively.